Any pressurized flowing gas, such as that exhausting from the operation of any type of fuel-burning or using engine--such as an internal combustion piston engine, jet or turbojet, diesel or turbine engine--will create sound at high decibels (volume) as it either flows past sharp edges, becomes turbulent, or rapidly expands into still air.
As a result, "noise pollution" has become a major source of concern to environmentalists, medicine, those involved in stress management, and the general public in our time.
Secondly, the pressure required to force such exhaust gases out of any type of engine and into the atmosphere creates a back-pressure and consequent power-drain upon the engine that results in direct reduction of delivered engine efficiency.
Thirdly, exhaust gases resulting from operation of any type of fuel-consuming engine (for example, an internal combustion engine) are known to contain products and by-products of incomplete combustion of fuels, such as carbon monoxide, lead, sulfuric acid and hydrocarbons, to mention only a few.
For example, total amounts of hydrocarbons present in the exhaust from an automobile may be as much as 1.2% by volume (that is, 12,000 parts per million) or more, while carbon monoxide concentrations may vary in amounts ranging from a fraction of one percent (1%) by volume, to as high as 10% by volume or more.
In internal combustion engines, average concentrations at idle conditions usually range between 6.0% and 6.5%. Therefore, desirability of somehow eliminating these high proportions of noxious gases from exhausted engine products remains of paramount importance--and grows more critical geometrically--and daily.
In fact, recent and worldwide recognition of the serious health hazards and genetic or reproductive mutations which the scientific community has discovered are engendered by air, soil and water pollution from airborne noxious products of auto and jet exhausts ultimately precipitating into our soil and water tables--particularly the hydrocarbon fractions responsible in part for the huge and unpleasant conditions known as "smog"--have painfully pointed up the critically serious nature of these pollutants.
These poisons have found their way into our bodies and have blocked off much of the life-giving rays of the sun to out planet--factors of critical concern to our survival.
Higher incidence of respiratory disease such as emphysema (resulting from carbon monoxide poisoning) and lung cancers have been found, by extensive demographic studies done in heavily populated and trafficked areas of the world, to be concentrated in such areas. It is therefore apparent that such incompletely burned exhaust gases and by-products are a form of deadly atmospheric contamination and must be eliminated as much as possible.
So long as fuel-burning engines are to be used, this object is only achievable by promoting the utmost complete burning of combustion engine products in all types of engines and in all ways possible.
This must be done immediately, practically and consistently, most particularly in our high performance engines of today which are being designed to operate best at maximum capacity that cannot be realized as a result of the poor exhaust equipment attached to them. This lessens complete realization of the combustive efficiency of an otherwise excellent engine, and produces pollutants otherwise unnecessary.
The above facts have tragically punctuated the needs for various and immediate concentration upon developing workable solutions.
While the art is replete with devices purporting to achieve this purpose, none appear yet to have achieved universal acceptance by either the public or automotive or aircraft engineers, in either internal combustion, turbine or jet applications.
In this application for letters patent, the inventors offer such a solution for all three of the above major problems--and more--in the preferred embodiments of their invention.